


The Importance of Being Fearless

by ellasimone



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, also grantaire has a cat, major spoilers for the woman in black just fyi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-27
Updated: 2013-11-27
Packaged: 2018-01-02 20:03:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1061023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellasimone/pseuds/ellasimone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Grantaire decides that he and Enjolras are going to watch a scary movie as a date one night, Enjolras realizes he's not as good with scary movies as he thought he was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Importance of Being Fearless

Going on a date with Grantaire was an incredibly hard thing to do. Not that Grantaire was the one who was difficult, in fact, it was both of them who couldn’t agree on what to do. Grantaire would suggest the museum of Fine Arts, in which they would spend two hours arguing because Enjolras decided to ruin it the moment they stepped into the museum by launching into a speech on how dada was the most ridiculous, anti-intellectual and pretentious art movement he had ever heard of. Following this, Grantaire would take him to a coffee shop in which Enjolras would complain about how capitalists were using their overpriced and overrated (and probably not even really fair trade) coffee to rob the unsuspecting youth’s pockets, resulting to Grantaire half hissing, half yelling, ‘Well, what do you suggest we do?!’ This did not last long either, because Enjolras’ idea of a date was visiting on a reading about the pros and cons of a left-wing Keynesian economic market. Dates between Enjolras and Grantaire had to be extremely simple, with absolutely no room for discussions that would inevitably lead to shouting, door-slamming and, much later in the night, quiet apologies over the phone. So most dates were stay-at-home dates in which Grantaire cooked and Enjolras occasionally looked up from his notes to admire the dark-haired man. Tonight was a night like that. Enjolras sat at the small table in the kitchen/dining room/living room area of Grantaire’s small apartment while Grantaire busied himself with what looked like way too many pans for two people. He only half-listened to Grantaire as he chatted away enthusiastically about something that had happened between Courfeyrac and him earlier today, occasionally murmering ‘uhu’ or ‘oh sure’ when Grantaire looked at him expectantly, instead trying to get as much of his coursework done before Grantaire would steal his attention for the rest of the night.

  
‘So I was thinking,’ Grantaire said, now turning around and placing his hands on the table on either side of Enjolras’ books. ‘It’s been a week since Halloween but-‘

  
‘Halloween was over a month ago, R.’

  
‘Nevertheless, I have a bunch of great scary movies on my laptop that I wanted to watch with you tonight. So I hope you don’t scare easily.’

  
‘Okay, cool,’ Enjolras said absentmindedly. Bernini, Grantaire’s scrawny tabby cat jumped onto the kitchen table. The cat started walking across Enjolras’ books so that Enjolras was forced to look up, now meeting Grantaire’s stare, accompanied with a slight smirk.

  
‘Have you even listened to half the things I just said?’ he asked, picking up the tabby before it started playing with loose threads on the sleeves of Enjolras’ new wool jumper.  
‘No. Yes. Sort of. I sort of stopped paying attention after you told me what happened with you and Courf at the cafeteria, and you want to watch a movie with me,’ Enjolras replied, before sighing deeply. ‘I’m sorry, R, I’m trying to work ahead because finals are coming up and I feel overwhelmed with school as it is, I’ll-‘

  
‘Hey, it’s fine,’ Grantaire chuckled, putting Bernini back down on the table and softly taking Enjolras’ hands, their blue eyes meeting. ‘You deserve a break, though. You’ve been at these books all afternoon.’ He let Enjolras’ hands go and, now that Enjolras was finally switching his attention from the schoolwork, promptly closed Enjolras’ textbooks. Enjolras huffed in a silent complaint, but smiled in thanks as Grantaire handed him a plate of chicken teriyaki.

  
‘So. Movies. What did you have in mind?’ Enjolras asked Grantaire skeptically. The last time he had let Grantaire pick a movie, Grantaire had picked out the most soppy romcom he could find just to see how Enjolras would react. Needless to say, Enjolras wouldn’t let Grantaire pick movies again (‘But you have to admit, Hugh Grant is very handsome.’ ‘He’s like, fifty, Grantaire.’).

  
‘Well, it depends. It needs to be a scary movie, seeing as it was Halloween a month ago. My collection ranges from ‘so-gory-you-will-very-probably-be-very-sick to so-scary-you-won’t-sleep-for-the-next-five-years’,’ Grantaire replied, smiling. Enjolras snorted, as he put another bite of rice into his mouth.

  
‘Unless you can’t stand scary movies,’ Grantaire added. ‘I mean, we can put on something else, as long as it’s not one of your terrible black-and-white French movies.’

  
‘No, bring it on,’ Enjolras replied. What he wasn’t telling Grantaire is that he had never actually seen a scary movie in his life. He remembered watching part of the Shining as a child and running away crying, and Courfeyrac had made him and Combeferre watch Saw III a year ago but he had promptly walked out of the room two scenes in. Grantaire raised his eyebrow and laughed at Enjolras’ determined expression and his choice of words and then proceeded to grab the two empty plates and throw them in the sink where they would probably lie, neglected and dirty, for the next two to three days. He took Enjolras by the hand and hoisted him to his feet, leading him to Grantaire’s single blue couch. On the coffee table in front of them lay Grantaire’s laptop.

  
‘So, the Woman in Black,’ Grantaire said, clicking away on his laptop.

  
‘Wasn’t that movie so scary it made Jehan cry?’ Enjolras asked, letting himself sink into the couch pillow.

  
‘Every movie makes Jehan cry. And trust me, this movie isn’t really that scary at all, unless you’ve seen like, no scary movies in your life,’ Grantaire replied. Enjolras didn’t reply, and Grantaire lay back on the couch, wrapping his left arm around Enjolras and kissing him on top of his blonde curls. As the movie started, Enjolras felt increasingly more nervous about watching it so he leaned into Grantaire’s shoulder and turning his head until he could only see about half of the screen.

  
‘Can you see it like that?’ Grantaire asked, looking quite amused and shifted so that Enjolras could see the whole screen again. ‘Are you doing okay?’

  
‘Look, I’m not scared if that’s what you’re- oh my god is there someone behind-‘

  
‘There isn’t anything really happening yet,’ Grantaire was now laughing, wrapping both his arms around Enjolras, his mouth near the blonde’s ear. ‘I’ll warn you every time the ghost lady appears so you’ll be prepared.’ Enjolras proceeded to hide his face in Grantaire’s shoulder, grumbling about how dumb horror movies were anyway.

  
‘Just concentrate on Daniel Radcliffe’s pretty face for now,’ Grantaire said soothingly.

  
‘He’s not that pretty,’ Enjolras mumbled, now sneaking a glance at the laptop screen. ‘Everyone just swoons over him because he was in Harry Potter.’

  
‘Take that back or I’ll have you watch something ten times as scary as this,’ replied Grantaire. They got through about twenty minutes in relative silence before Enjolras actually squeeked and turned to Grantaire’s chest again, hissing, ‘There’s something moving behind him.’

  
‘Don’t worry, it’s gone- no wait, she’s going to be back in like, half a scene so just-‘

  
‘I can’t watch this. Wait, what was that? What’s going on?’

  
‘He’s walking into the room and looking through the window and sees something in the garden-‘

  
‘Never mind, I can’t watch this. Oh my god, what was that noise?’

  
‘I’m not going to narrate this entire movie for you, Enj.’

  
‘I can’t watch this.’

  
‘You’ve said that three times now,’ Grantaire said in feigned annoyance. ‘Do I need to switch it off, or…?’

  
‘I’ll be quiet,’ Enjolras answered. And for a few minutes he was, occasionally gripping Grantaire’s arm when a moment got intense, Grantaire still watching him with the same amused smile.

  
‘I really hate you for watching this,’ Enjolras said as he took one of the couch’s pillows and hid half behind it.

  
‘I didn’t know you’d be this scared,’ replied Grantaire, taking the pillow shield Enjolras had made between him and the screen and tugging it out of his grip. He cupped Enjolras’ face in his hands, kissing his forehead, nose and mouth gently. ‘You’re absolutely adorable, you know that?’

  
Enjolras grinned stupidly at this, his attention wavering from the movie for a second before a lot of noise came from the speakers. His eyes widened and he ducked buried his face into Grantaire’s neck again, arms wrapped tightly around Grantaire’s waist, now no longer caring about trying to hide his fear from him. Soon, the movie was drawing to a close, much to Enjolras’ relief.

  
‘This is the last scary movie I’m watching, ever,’ Enjolras complained. ‘And next time, I get to choose. Wait, he dies? He just dies? That’s how they’re going to end the movie? That’s ridiculous.’ After an exasperated sigh, Enjolras shut the laptop quickly.

  
‘Hey, he got reunited with his family, look at the bright side of things,’ Grantaire replied, stretching and squirming out of Enjolras’ tight grip.

  
‘Says you,’ retorted Enjolras. Grantaire chuckled, and leaned over until his face was barely a breath away from Enjolras’ face. Enjolras moved forward, kissing Grantaire deeply. After a moment, Enjolras broke the kiss. ‘I hate to spoil things, but I have an 8am class tomorrow, so I think I’m going to head home in a second.’

  
‘You don’t have to,’ Grantaire murmured, kissing his jaw line and neck. Enjolras breathed in deeply, and against every inch of his will, stood up from the couch.

  
‘Come over tomorrow,’ he told Grantaire, as he walked over to where his dark red coat had been carelessly thrown over one of the chairs in the kitchen area. Grantaire smiled in reply, before asking, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, ‘Sure you’re going to be okay tonight? No nightmares?’ He stood up, walking Enjolras to the door and opening it for him gallantly. Enjolras rolled his eyes, before giving Grantaire one last kiss. ‘See you tomorrow, R.’

It was around three o’ clock in the morning when Enjolras woke up with the feeling that someone else was in the room. It felt utterly ridiculous to Enjolras, he was an _adult_ , he wasn’t supposed to be so spooked by a dumb movie. His eyes shifted around the room and his mind started conjuring shapes from the shadows around him. Figures of things- of people- started to shape around him and Enjolras promptly shut his eyes again before his imagination could get the best of him. Then, he pulled the covers over his head as if to protect himself from his own bedroom, but he felt like the sheets were suffocating him. He peaked out of the covers again, and rolled over, attempting to sleep again. After twenty minutes of tossing and turning and trying to keep his eyes shut, he heard a creak and shot up to a sitting position. Breathing heavily, Enjolras grabbed his phone from his nightstand. _This is so ridiculous you are such a child you’re twenty-two, for heaven’s sakes why are you sitting here contemplating on whether to call Grantaire because you’re scared because of a stupid movie,_ his rational side told him. It wasn’t enough- he knew Grantaire would hate him for this, but that didn’t stop him either. He tapped Grantaire’s name and held the phone to his ear.

  
‘Enj,you’d better be dying or something because it’s three in the fucking morning,’ a very irritated voice grumbled groggily.

  
‘I’m so sorry, I really am,’ Enjolras replied, his voice hushed as his eyes scanned his dark room again.

  
‘Why the hell are you calling?’ Grantaire almost snapped.

  
‘Look it’s just- I’m just- I really can’t explain,’ Enjolras sighed. ‘I just wanted to hear your voice. I’m sorry for waking you.’

  
‘That is the most stupid reason I have ever heard, especially from you, you’re not that sappy,’ replied Grantaire, his voice hoarse with sleep. ‘What’s up? Wait. Are you okay? Did the movie really freak you out that much? Are you calling me because you’re scared?’

‘No- I- maybe,’ Enjolras answered through gritted teeth. ‘Look, I know it’s completely ridiculous, but I couldn’t sleep.’

  
‘What do you want me to do about it?’ Grantaire sighed. ‘Try not to think about it. You have an early class tomorrow, you should really go to sleep.’ Grantaire was obviously not in the mood for talking (then again, who would be if they had been woken up at three am by their frightened boyfriend).  
‘You’re right. I’m so sorry for waking you,’ Enjolras said again. ‘Love you.’

  
Grantaire muttered a barely coherent ‘love you, too’ before the line went dead. Enjolras sighed, placing his phone back on the nightstand. Hearing Grantaire’s voice had helped a bit, he could feel himself calm down and the fatigue starting to take over again. He lay back down, and finally managed to doze off.

This, however, barely lasted for an hour before he was woken by a completely different sound. He heard a sharp tapping going through his apartment. Enjolras breathed in sharply, before quickly rolling out of his bed. He moved quickly to his bedroom door and opened it slightly before he heard the tapping again. _Someone was knocking on his door._ Enjolras bolted back to his nightstand, grabbing his phone and without thinking, called Grantaire again.

  
‘Grantaire, don’t kill me for calling again but this time there is seriously someone knocking on my door,’ he spoke sharply when he heard the phone being picked up.

  
‘Maybe you should open it,’ Grantaire replied, sounding surprisingly awake.

  
‘I don’t think anyone knocking at my door at four am is bound to do much good to me,’ Enjolras replied, but all the same, crept to his closet. He knew that in the back of the closet, amidst the old things that he had moved from his parent’s home to his apartment, was a box with childhood toys. One of these things was a baseball bat, a failed father-son bonding gift he had gotten when he was thirteen, which now made the perfect weapon. He took the unused baseball bat and quickly opened his bedroom door to the front door, bat in one hand, phone in the other hand.

  
‘Okay, I’m opening the door now,’ Enjolras told Grantaire.

  
‘Okay, you do that,’ Grantaire replied from the other line. He fumbled with the lock, and then opened the door. Standing on the other side, was Grantaire, who was eyeing the half-raised baseball bat.

  
‘Oh my god, what are you doing here?’ Enjolras asked, not knowing if he should sound angry or relieved.

  
‘I came to check if you were still alive, but it looks like you’ve found ways of protecting yourself from the monster under your bed,’ Grantaire replied, smirking. Enjolras looked at the baseball bat, before leaning it against the wall. He then surged forward, hugging Grantaire, and breathing a sigh of relief. ‘You’re completely insane, coming over here at this hour. Absolutely, utterly insane.’

  
‘Hey, when your fearless leader is showing his first ever signs of actually being scared, you start to worry,’ Grantaire replied with a lopsided smile. Enjolras just shook his head, laughing and taking Grantaire’s hands. He led Grantaire back to the bedroom, and flopped onto the bed, feeling exhausted. Grantaire joined him a few seconds later, after having removed his jeans and shoes, and curled protectively around Enjolras, his chest meeting Enjolras’ back.

  
‘At least I’m here now to protect you from all the scary women in black, right?’ Grantaire said, kissing the back of Enjolras’ neck.

  
‘Shut up. I wasn’t really that scared, you know,’ Enjolras murmured, half-asleep. Grantaire chuckled again, wrapping an arm around Enjolras’ waist. Before they knew it, both were asleep, with no thoughts of ghosts or ghouls haunting them for the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> big shout out to rebecca for coming up with the plot for the second half! also wow, my first proper fanfiction!


End file.
